Page 128 of Dose

“It will be gone in a few days.”

“Then you can replace it when I ask.”

“A demanding arrangement.”

“You’ll endure.”

The priority channel sounds at 0341.

Both of us are awake before the second chime.

Nikolai’s message fills the panel.

AUTHENTICATED C-11 BURST FROM EZRA. CONTACT CONFIRMED: V. MARCHANT. GAMMA ACTIVE. ORIGIN NARROWED TO NORTHERN INDIANA. NO SIGNAL AFTER TRANSMISSION. DOMINIC AND RECOVERY CELL REROUTING.

I read it twice.

“Authenticated?” Isla asks.

“One-time key assigned to Ezra. It could have been sent under duress, but it wasn’t fabricated from nothing.”

She sits up, dragging the sheet around herself. “Gamma active means Marchant knows he’s there.”

“Or Ezra believes she does.”

The distinction is small and vicious.

Another line appears.

NO DIRECT APPROACH UNTIL DOMINIC CONFIRMS THE SITE.

At least Nikolai has not mistaken contact for rescue.

Isla takes my hand. “He found her.”

“He confirmed her identity. We don’t know whether he found her or she allowed herself to be found.”

“Dominic is moving.”

“Yes.”

“Ezra survived Site Nine. He survived getting out.”

“Survival and intact are different outcomes.”

The words hurt her. I see it, but I will not give her a comforting lie while Marchant has Ezra within reach.

She shifts closer until our shoulders touch.

“Then we wait for facts,” she says.

Upstairs, Marcus is tracing the burst and Dominic is rerouting east toward Indiana. Montana remains a fortified question hundreds of miles away, dangerous but separate.

Down here, the blast door is still closed. Isla can open it whenever she chooses.

At 0342, she chooses to stay beside me and wait for Ezra’s next message.

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